


i used to have a name that look like butterflies and hennessey

by scirallydia



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-03
Updated: 2017-08-03
Packaged: 2018-12-10 12:15:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11691417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scirallydia/pseuds/scirallydia
Summary: A few times that people thought Derek was joking about his last name and the time that he made a joke about it first.





	i used to have a name that look like butterflies and hennessey

**Author's Note:**

> That feel when you turn a funny idea you had into a real life fic  
> (at least I thought it was funny lmao)

The first time it happens, Derek tries to write it off. It’s just a coincidence, a one-time thing that someone ironically points out that will be laughed about and then forgotten. Yeah right.

-

It’s brought up to him when he’s meeting Justin’s family for the first time. The last time he was this nervous was when he and Justin had the “what are we?” relationship talk. That seemed like a piece of cake compared to meeting dozens of Justin’s relatives. So who can blame him if he tries to roll with what Justin’s family is telling him?

The conversation is going well enough until someone has to ask him his full name, probably to get a younger family member to pull him up on social media later.

“Derek…Nurse? This is some kind of joke, right?” one of Justin’s aunts asks.

“Um…no,” he says awkwardly.

“But you do know Justin is going to be a doctor?” is what she follows up with.

“Yeah, that’s kind of a big part of his life,” Derek says.

“So why are you joking about it?” Justin’s grandmother asks with raised eyebrows.

“Yes, his future is very important to him. Not very smart of you to joke about it,” his aunt adds.

“Being a doctor is serious business. It’s life or death, no room for error. Justin will have to be very professional and not make jokes with his patients,” his grandmother says.

At this point, Derek is beginning to feel very unchill, not having expected an interrogation. He looks wildly around for Justin, who is nowhere to be seen. He shouldn’t have said yes when Justin asked him if he’d be okay on his own for a bit. Asshole probably knows he’s getting interviewed right now.

Derek rubs at his forehead and wishes this was the type of event he could wear a hat to. He’s really missing his green beanie right now. And his boyfriend. Justin did mention his family could be a little overwhelming, but Derek did not prepare himself to be cornered like this.

“I’m…not. Joking, I mean. I love Justin a lot and would never disrespect his career as a nur- I mean doctor,” he says and immediately wants to smack himself in the head. He’s a poet, dammit, why can he not speak right now. He just has to take a deep breath and try to regain his chill. Luckily, one of Justin’s cousins steps in.

“Auntie, Nana,” she says in a firm voice. “Stop scaring Derek.”

 The two women look amused.

“Can’t you take a joke, child?” Justin’s grandmother says, smiling. All of a sudden Derek sees the family resemblance and knows where Justin got his sense of humor.

The rest of the conversation goes much better after that. By the end of the night Derek is fairly confident he’s charmed all of Justin’s relatives. That doesn’t mean he isn’t going to bring up Justin’s inadequate warning. He’ll just do it in between kisses.

And maybe he’ll be able to put to rest the nagging feeling in the back of his mind that jokes about his last name are far from over.

 

***

The next time it happens, Derek can’t help but get annoyed. It’s always with Justin’s friends and family that this seems to happen.

-

This time, it’s Justin’s graduation from med school and Derek just wants to be a proud boyfriend. Unfortunately, Justin’s friends always make him kind of anxious because compared to years of med school Derek feels like a fake. Freelance work and writing in his spare time? Working from home? How quaint. A good number of offhand comments from soon to be medical professionals have made Derek feel like a white suburban housewife. Pretty soon he’ll be vacuuming in a pair of heels and waiting for Justin to get home to serve him the casserole he spent all day making. _Deep breaths, Derek,_ he imagines Justin saying.

Justin’s arm is around his shoulders and he gestures to the woman in front of him. “Derek, this is Coretta. Without her, I never would have made it through my first year here. Coretta, this is my boyfriend, Derek Nurse.”

“Y’all are a very cute couple,” she says. And then: “Wait, your last name is Nurse? Oh I get it, that’s cute!”

Derek and Justin exchange glances, equally confused.

“So what’s your real last name then?” she asks.

“What?” Derek says.

“I thought you were, like, trying to be cute and say that his last name should be Nurse because he’s so supportive of you becoming a doctor…Is that not what you meant?” Coretta says.

Justin breaks out laughing. “Coretta, how did you make it through med school with that kind of reasoning?”

Coretta looks confused for a moment before smacking her forehead.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry Derek,” she says. “Let me buy you a drink later, okay? Some of us are going out to celebrate.”

Derek laughs easily.

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Are you sure? You know, if you let me find my boyfriend we could make plans-”

Just then, a man also in Justin’s graduating class walks by and Coretta grabs his arm.

“Hey Finn,” she says. “This is Oluransi’s boyfriend, Derek Nurse.”

“Oh I get it!” he says.

Coretta and Justin groan.

“ _Now_ you owe me a drink,” Derek says.

***

Eventually, Derek gets used to comments about his last name. That doesn’t mean he thinks they’re funny, though. But he would never tell people that because he has to retain his chill.

-

This is the third year Derek and Justin have held their annual Can-American Independence Day celebration, tying both of their countries into a party that is mostly an excuse to have old friends over for a day during the summer that happens to be close to both holidays. It helps that they’re in a central location and that they actually have a backyard. Derek honestly would’ve preferred an apartment but Justin fought tooth and nail to have an actual yard with enough room for a grill and a lawn.

“Think of it as an investment! We can get a dog and make an ice rink for the kids and have fancy outdoor parties with those string lights you love so much! Plus you’ll have trees to sit under and write. You won’t want to be stuck in a stuffy apartment all day,” Justin had said. In that moment, Derek knew he would always be the one.

“Kids?”

Justin had blushed and fiddled with his snapback. “Yeah, I thought it would be nice. I don’t know, we can talk about it.”

And Derek had agreed to the house and never disagreed with kids in the first place; he just hadn’t been expecting Justin to bring it up so soon.

Now, however, Derek has to mingle with all the people at the party. Considering it’s made up of the group from his writing workshop, Justin’s coworkers, and a shitload of their mutual friends, it’s kind of a rowdy get together. He’s looking forward more to brunch tomorrow morning with the old Samwell crew.

At least chatting with Caitlyn, her sister, and Chris has him feeling pretty content. Until he brings up how it’s hard not to see Justin as much with his schedule.

“Wait, Justin’s a doctor? Derek Nurse, you should’ve told me this!” Caitlyn’s sister breaks out laughing. “But you two are engaged right? What happens when you get married?”

Derek keeps a straight face and he waits for her to say it. Instead, Adam swoops in and yells over Derek’s shoulder.

“JUSTIN NURSE, MD.”

Derek loves Adam but after hearing him rehash this joke every weekend when he drops by for drinks means that it’s wearing Derek down a little bit.

Justin looks over from where he’s holding a beer and chatting with Jack and Bitty to shake his head. He must recognize the exasperated expression Derek has because he calls out to them.

“Yo, Holtzy! Can you ask Derek for his opinion on these shorts?”

Bitty giggles and raises his glass to them.

Derek thinks that if this were a cartoon an angry scribble would probably appear over Adam’s head. Justin winks at him before turning back to Jack and whatever he says actually makes Jack laugh a little too.

“Hey Der, what do you think of Justin’s shorts?” Caitlyn says slyly. Beside her, C chuckles a little bit, his arm wrapped around her waist. The two of them are adorable and Derek feels giddy at the fact that he’s the soon-to-be godfather of their twins.

“Well,” he says, “I’m tempted to write a sonnet about them. I think they make his ass look-“

“Okay, I’m going to go get another beer!” Adam says loudly and he pats Derek hard on the back as he walks away.

Caitlyn and Chris continue chatting and Derek just soaks it all in.

Derek Nurse has never been happier than he is now, standing with his friends under the stupid string lights in his backyard, for this stupid made up holiday, for this space he created with the man he loves more than he’s ever loved anyone else. Maybe he will write a sonnet today after all.

 

***

This time Derek is determined to beat the crowd to the punch line and put the joke to rest once and for all. If there ever was a time for him to bring it up, it would be now.

-

“…I’ve endured so many jokes about my last name because I was dating, and am now about to marry, Justin Oluransi. But it’s chill because I love him, more than I’ve ever loved anyone else. He made me believe in myself and he helps me make sure my Instagrams get the most likes and he’s letting me get a cat even though he doesn’t trust them and thinks they’re the devil’s animal. I love this man who believes ghosts are real and went through long, impossible years of med school, and most importantly, who tells me every day how much I mean to him, even if I have trouble believing it…”

There’s more to what Derek says, but he doesn’t remember it because he’s overwhelmed and emotional and in love and does not have time to be coherent when he just wants to kiss Justin and bring him home and be close to him.

-

“Nurse, what was up with that speech during the ceremony?” Will asks during the reception.  “It wasn’t very poetic, especially for an aspiring writer.”

Derek doesn’t let the word _aspiring_ get to him because it’s his wedding day and he deserves to be happy, goddammit Dex. He already _is_ a writer.

“But it was from the heart, bruh, and that’s all that matters. I don’t need to write fancy poems and use confusing metaphors to talk about how much I love Justin. Plus, I wanted to write something my medical doctor husband would understand. I already have to explain everything else I write to him.”

Derek winks and Justin doesn’t even attempt to look fake offended. Instead, he just curls his arm around Derek’s waist and pulls him close to his side. Will gets the hint and slips away easily. Derek spots him a few tables away talking to Chris.

“Derek Nurse and Justin Oluransi. We make a good couple, don’t we?” Justin asks, his smile dazzlingly bright.

 “The best,” Derek says.

Derek almost feels high, like he’s swimming underwater. The band plays in the background and guests are conversing and it all seems like a low hum compared to Justin’s presence. Nothing else matters right now.

“Have I ever told you that I love you?” Justin says. “Even though your last name is ridiculous?”

“You might’ve mentioned both of those things a few times,” Derek says.

He reaches his hand up to Justin’s cheek and leans in to kiss him.

“It’s okay, though, because I love you too.” 

**Author's Note:**

> title from sunny duet by noname  
> (because you know for sure your boy derek nurse listens to her)


End file.
